PORT ST. LUCIE – El Duque finally went from spectator to active participant yesterday in the fight for the Mets’ fifth-starter role.
Unveiling his new, more conventional windup for the first time, Orlando Hernandez threw 60 pitches in a three-inning simulated game before the Mets’ 6-2 Grapefruit League win over the Orioles. The velocity wasn’t good, although it never has been with the wily Cuban right-hander. The command and results left much to be desired, too, with three minor leaguers ringing up eight hits and two runs, including a towering homer to right by outfielder Rene Reyes, before Hernandez reached his pitch limit.
El Duque, who is being challenged for the No. 5 role in the rotation by young right-hander Mike Pelfrey, then appeared to do some damage control afterward by refusing to let the minor leaguers talk to reporters about his day.
“I talk about me,” Hernandez warned the players as he shooed them back to the minor league diamonds at Tradition Field.
El Duque then offered a much more upbeat assessment of his outing, which was held with no fielders and no radar gun to determine velocity.
“I’m happy,” he said. “I feel that I throw every pitch. Some of them were high, but that’s OK. Everybody’s happy.”
Hernandez was so happy he said his next appearance on the mound will be in an actual Grapefruit League game. Based on the Mets’ schedule, that could be Monday in Viera against the Nationals.
“I think I’m ready to throw in a game for three or four innings. My body is very good,” said Hernandez, who says he felt no pain.
The dramatically altered windup, which has El Duque using a waist-level leg kick instead of his patented eye-level kick while keeping his right foot flat, was a product of necessity.
Hernandez, who battled various injuries all last season, reported this year with a sore toe ligament and painful bunion in his right foot. The ailments kept him from getting comfortable enough on the rubber to face hitters and were a source of frustration for the veteran.
El Duque’s woes allowed Pelfrey to push for the fifth and final spot in the rotation. While Hernandez sat, Pelfrey made his case to stay with the Mets by cruising in impressive style through his first two starts.
But with El Duque now on track to pitch in real games and Pelfrey taking a step back in a 12-4 loss to the Marlins on Saturday (he has another outing today against the Cardinals in Jupiter), the dynamics of the race have shifted.
“I’m [now] at the level that I want,” said Hernandez, who already has warned the Mets he won’t accept a shift to the bullpen.
The Mets don’t doubt that El Duque can fend off all challengers and be ready when the No. 5 spot first comes up in their rotation in mid-April.
“I think we’re all excited by what we saw with his comfort level,” pitching coach Rick Peterson said after yesterday’s outing.
As for Hernandez’s new windup, Willie Randolph claims he doesn’t understand what all the fuss is about. The Mets’ boss said hitters have never attacked El Duque based on his leg kick, and Randolph thinks Hernandez’s command will improve with the calmer delivery.
“Obviously, people know him by [the high kick],” Randolph said yesterday. “But to me, his mystique is getting people out and dazzling you with his stuff. That’s what he’s a master at.”
And El Duque fully intends to display that mastery in the No. 5 role this season.
“I’m looking for 30 starts,” he said.
bhubbuch@nypost.com
EXHIBITION Mets 6 Orioles 2